Adam Gemili has revealed the importance of his glory on the track last summer.
The Great Britain sprinter won two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow before a stunning performance at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich where he soared to 200m gold and then anchored home the 4x100m relay team to victory.
'It was just unbelievable, said Gemili. “For me that was a real stepping stone, learning how to compete, learning that I could go to a championship, thinking I could come away with something.'
Gemili’s sprint to gold in the 200m was particularly impressive as he won in a personal best of 19.98, the quickest by a European in 2014, on a wet track after a rainy night at the Letzigrund Stadium.
Watch Gemili win 200m gold in Zurich below:
[VIDEO src='1275984' align='right']
He is now ready to build on that success in a career where he is also the reigning European Athletics under-23 100m champion.
One of his next big targets is at that shorter distance as he aims to break the 10-second barrier - and then go even quicker.
Gemini, whose fastest time is 10.04 from 2014, said: 'It would…give me the confidence to know that I can do it, I can push on, I can compete with the world’s best. And that is when you start chipping down the time.'
He is in no rush - even if he is one of the fastest men of the sport.
The former footballer has had a solid winter of work.
He said: 'I haven’t had many injuries or niggles this year. I have been training well and training hard. I had a good stint in South Africa in January. I am heading to Italy in a couple of weeks for some final warm-weather training.'
But he is not sure which will be his main event this year.
'If I come out and run a good 100m that could potentially favour it in that way,' said Gemili. 'At the moment, I am probably looking more towards the 200m. I am not decided yet with my coach. Probably this year, depending on how my development is, I need to develop a bit more in the 100m to be competitive with the world’s best.
'I am only 21. I am still learning, trying to get more powerful, stronger, still learning how to technically run.'